In this Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012 photo, Free Syrian Army rebels gather around armored vehicles acquired from the Syrian army in a staging area before a rebel operation against pro-government forces in the northwestern city of Maraat al-Numan, Syria. After months of fierce fighting for control of the vital Aleppo-Damascus highway, rebels have succeeded in pushing the Syrian army out of the center of Maraat al-Numan located on the highway between Aleppo and Hama. (AP Photo/Mustafa Karali)

Palestinians run to take cover during an Israeli air strike on building in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012. The Israeli military widened its range of targets in the Gaza Strip on Sunday to include the media operations of the Palestinian territory's Hamas rulers, sending its aircraft to attack two buildings used by both Hamas and foreign media outlets. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas might look very similar to what the world has witnessed in the past.

Local leaders of Oakland County religious and ethnic associations, however, have differing opinions on this age-old conflict that has again been raised into the public sphere.

The recent escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas -- the militant group which controls the Gaza Strip area -- show a great difference in the scale of firepower being used, said Robert Cohen, a local Jewish community relations professional.

Cohen, the executive director of the Bloomfield Hills-based Jewish Community Relations Council, said the reserve of Hamas' weapons is greater than ever.

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He said that Israel's military forces hit about 1,000 of the sites that house arms for Hamas, and the group still isn't depleted of weapons.

Affected by this as well, he said, are the members of the local Michigan Jewish community who might have friends or family in the warring regions.

"They're all watching very closely to see what's going to happen," Cohen said.

Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Michigan Chapter, said if the root of the conflict doesn't stop, the conflict will never be settled.

"The root of this dire conflict is the ongoing occupation of the Palestinian people in Gaza," Walid said Monday.

He said that you don't need to be a mathematician to see that the majority of people being killed or injured in this conflict are civilians.

"Both sides should immediately stop firing weapons at each other and work out some type of peaceful settlement to this issue," he said. "You can't build good relations with people using F-16 and drone strikes."

Walid said that there were reports of Hamas militants living among the people in Gaza.

"This only hurts the Palestinian citizens," he said. "But if Israel is saying the reason they are bombing Gaza is to defeat Hamas, they can't believe that will solve anything."

Sharon Lipton, president of the JCRC, said in a statement: "The Detroit Jewish community is alarmed by the escalation of Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel. Several missiles were fired in the past few days at Tel Aviv and even Jerusalem, a city holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims. While there were no casualties in those incidents, three Israelis were killed -- including a pregnant woman -- in an attack in southern Israel.

"More than 750 missiles were fired from Gaza since Wednesday. If Detroiters were under attack like that from Windsor, we would demand that our government respond quickly and strongly to make it stop. That's why Israel has begun its current self-defense operation," she said.

With both sides claiming to be on the defensive, it's difficult to tell why the conflict is still happening. But the local spokesmen and women agree on one thing: This needs to stop.

"President Obama is in southeast Asia right now. Maybe he hasn't had the time to get deeper into this, but the short comment that I heard him say yesterday wasn't very substantial," Walid said. "Maybe it wasn't the right time."

Victor Begg, senior advisor for the Michigan Muslim Community Council, said what Muslim-Jewish relations in Metro Detroit need is to expand community to community, not just individual to individual.

For the past two years, Begg's organization has been bringing both communities together, doing outreach events like health screenings and open discussions.

"We brought 130 mosques and synagogues together last year during the screenings," said Begg.

Violence, however, sets anything back, he said.

"The reality is that Palestinians and Israelis are both going to be there," he said. "It's time they sit together and resolve this."